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Shaw lays off 500 employees, about 4% of its Canadian workforce

Shaw Communications (NYSE: SJR), feeling pressure on traditional television, Internet and phone businesses from a new array of telco competitors and seeking capital to expand into the wireless space, has sent termination notices to 500 employees, or about 4 percent of its Canadian workforce.

Additionally, the MSO consolidated into seven regional service territories from 18 and closed a distribution center and call center.

"Some of the smaller regions didn't warrant the overhead we had," said Peter Bissonnette, Shaw's president. "We've been looking at our margins and our overall business and we said, ‘Let's look at this with a really scrupulous eye.'"